The White House declares a "tentative" agreement to prevent a rail strike
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| Image Credit: NNN |
A national rail strike that threatened to shut down important sectors of the American economy was likely avoided after the White House early on Thursday morning announced an agreement between rail carriers and union leaders.
President Biden announced that negotiators had reached a "tentative" agreement to keep freight trains operating and prevent a significant disruption to the country's supply chains with less than 24 hours to spare before a potential shutdown. According to two people briefed on the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan had not yet been made public, the agreement gives workers the ability to take days off for sick leave and medical emergencies—the unions' key demand in negotiations. However, it only granted them one day of paid sick leave.
The deal, which still needs to be approved by the unions, is a significant victory for the White House after it launched a full-scale effort to avert a shutdown that might have had serious political and economic repercussions in the lead-up to the 2022 midterm elections.
In remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House, Biden said, "This agreement can avert [the] significant damage that any shutdown would have brought." Every item you require appears to be transported to its destination by rail.
The president personally participated in the negotiations, joining Marty Walsh, the secretary of labor, at a meeting that was called to order in Washington around nine o'clock on Wednesday. This week, the president also called both the carriers and the unions to urge them to reach a settlement. According to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss specifics of private conversations with the president, Biden had become animated in recent days regarding the lack of scheduling flexibility for employees. He expressed a mix of confusion and anger that management was refusing to budge on that point.
A rail strike less than two months before the midterm elections would have had severe political repercussions for Democrats, with Republican lawmakers blaming the administration for failing to reach an agreement.
On an hourly basis, three of Biden's Cabinet secretaries, his top economic adviser, and his chief of staff participated in the negotiations, and White House staffers prepared backup plans to safeguard the country's energy and water supply in case a deal fell through.
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| On March 15, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh addressed a crowd on Capitol Hill during an Equal Pay Day event. |
In a statement announcing the agreement, Biden said, "These rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs: all hard-earned." "I thank the unions and rail companies for bargaining in good faith and coming to a tentative agreement that will maintain the operation of our vital rail system and prevent a blow to our economy," the speaker said.
Following two years of negotiations between six of the biggest freight carriers and 12 unions that represent 115,000 railroad workers, Biden appointed an emergency board in July to mediate the dispute that had come to a standstill. Large wage increases were included in the emergency board's proposal, but it did not address the workers' complaints about the carriers' attendance policies, which sparked the current negotiations.
The two largest railroad unions and railroad carriers have agreed to a contract that would guarantee voluntary assigned days off and one additional paid day off. According to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, employees are not penalized for missing work for routine doctor's appointments and are not docked attendance points for hospital stays or surgical procedures.
The agreement also includes the largest pay raises for railroad employees in more than 40 years. By 2024, their salaries will have increased by 24 percent, including an immediate 14 percent raise, five years of $1,000 annual bonuses, and no increases in healthcare copays or deductibles. By 2024, the agreement would raise the annual salary of the typical railroad employee to $110,000.
Despite the discovery, significant issues persisted. The number of unpaid sick days for which employees will be qualified has not been confirmed by any of the parties involved in the negotiations, and some specifics regarding other provisions of the agreement are still unknown.
Rank-and-file union members' reactions to the agreement on Thursday appeared to be mixed, with some suggesting that they may decide not to ratify the contract that will be put to a vote in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, a number of railroad employees vented their anger on social media at their own union leadership for agreeing to one additional paid day off, which they claimed did little to address their concerns about working conditions. Others, however, expressed their frustration at the lack of information regarding the deal. How pervasive the criticism is among the membership is unknown.
Ron Kaminkow, a locomotive engineer and member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said, "Right now it's impossible to make heads or tails of what this agreement means, and it's disgraceful how opaque is it. Even in the best-case scenario, labor doesn't appear to have won by a wide margin, but the devil is in the details. The worst-case scenario might be very bad.
The tentative agreement represents the first time that railroad companies have engaged in negotiations and reached an understanding regarding attendance policies that have an impact on employees at three of the biggest railroad companies, BNSF, Union Pacific, and CSX. The ability to set attendance policies is necessary, according to the National Carriers' Conference Committee, which represented the railroads in the negotiations, to ensure that there are enough train operators available to work despite labor shortages.
Two of the unions supporting the tentative agreement, Jeremy Ferguson of SMART Transportation Division and Dennis Pierce of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, jointly stated that "the solidarity shown by our members, essential workers to this economy, who keep America's freight trains moving, made the difference in our obtaining an agreement with provisions that exceeded the recommendations of the Presidential Emergency Board."
"We listened when our members told us that a final agreement would require improvements to our members' quality of life as well as economic gains," the statement continued.
Railroad carriers have also agreed to freeze monthly health care contributions at the end of a contract and bargaining period, which unions claim will deter carriers from protracted negotiations. These agreements were reached over the course of the last 20 hours of negotiations. As safety concerns about employees operating trains alone have grown, the agreement also safeguards two-person crews.
For Biden, who has pledged to be the "most pro-union president" in American history, the agreement also represents a significant turning point.
The president was under increasing political pressure to put an end to the strike by implementing the board's contract recommendations, which it had been his decision to appoint. Due to the fact that a significant portion of the country's economy relies on the rail system, a strike would have had far-reaching effects. It might have hindered the flow of goods and resulted in significant job losses. Additionally, the inconvenience on commuter trains would have been felt all across the nation. Picket lines were anticipated in a number of cities, including Baltimore, Cleveland, and Stockton, California. During a time of high inflation, the disruption might have caused prices for a variety of goods to rise even further.
On Wednesday, congressional Republicans advanced legislation to compel employees to accept those conditions, making it clear that they would hold the president accountable should the impasse result in a strike. Moderate Democrats had started debating whether or not to support the GOP plan to resolve the impasse.
Biden instead pursued the risky tactic of concentrating on securing a deal at the negotiating table. As soon as word of an agreement spread, services resumed. Amtrak announced on Thursday that it was "working to quickly restore canceled trains" after announcing on Wednesday that it was canceling long-distance rail service.